Merule

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264@Eklispe
"There's not ganna be a next time unless you can get the ball from me," Kara teased, but before they could start again, Armis waved over the armadillo-boy from before. She still wasn't sure what to think about the little guy, but he hadn't made any move to threaten her, so she was content to play nice for now.

"It's called basketball. You have to take the ball from each other, and then throw it into the hoop there," she pointed at the hoop, before demonstrating by throwing the ball again. It bounced off the rim and back into their little group.

"It, uh, it's harder than it looks."

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Armis didn't throw like she'd never done this before, but she supposed the lizard-girl had no reason to lie. When she had the ball, Kara had to try a couple of times before she could get it through the ring, and even then it felt more like luck than anything.

"You know, I'm not sure this is all there is to it," she said thoughtfully, before passing the ball back to Armis with a cheeky grin. The kids on the streets had played a much more hands-on version that didn't really focus on getting the ball through the hoop as much as trying to get the ball from each other.

When Armis had the ball in hand, she waited until her attention was turned before swooping in close and trying to tap it out of her hands like she'd seen the other kids do countless times without her.

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Now that she was up on her feet, Kara started to realise how good it would be to just run around a little. She’d been understandably tense ever since the guards had kicked in the door of where she thought she’d be safe, and she had always been at her best in the physical. If she sat still too long, she just ended up wearing her thoughts into knots leaving her irritable and unfocused. There was a simplicity to just moving her body that had always served her well.

Her lips quirked up at Armis’ description of the game. The way she put it, it sounded like some kind of intellectual exercise at best, and a giant pile of snore at worst. She was obviously exited though, and it was infectious even considering where they were and with who.

“Piece of cake,” she echoed with a grin. She bounced the ball a few more times, before hurling it in the direction of the hoop. It struck the board above it and ricochet back with enough force to sail over her head on the way back.

“Hehe, oops,” Kara chuckled. She went back to retrieve the ball and passed it to Armis. Next time she would reign it in a little.

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara blinked in surprise several times before she remembered that she was supposed to reply. She always associated gyms with training strength or speed or fighting techniques, not with games.

“Er… ok I guess?” she mumbled, looking up as she realised how unenthusiastic that sounded.

“I mean, it’d be fun! I’ve seen people play basketball plenty of times,” never joined them, though, was the unspoken addition. They said she was ‘too short’, but she knew that wasn’t the reason she wasn’t invited to play with people. When she was younger she’d gotten into fights over things like this, but that had only made people more afraid of her. Eventually she’d learned not to care about it too much, as that very fear was what earned her a measure of respect.

“Get the ball in the hoop, right? I can do that,” she finished with a grin, jogging over to the wall to get a ball from a shelf. She bounced it on the floor a couple of times, getting a feel for the weight of it as she balanced lightly on the balls of her feet for greater mobility. She had no idea whether she would be a god shot, but she was fast and strong and had great control over her movements. It should be enough, right?

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara listened to the story with rapt attention. Though the exact nature of events was unfamiliar to her, she recognised something of herself in the tone Armis used to talk about her friend. She tilted her head as the other girl paused near the end of her story, feeling she was missing some unspoken part of it. Or perhaps that was just her thinking about her own life and her own people?

“She sounds… nice,” she said after a short silence, even as she realised how little those words would mean in a situation like this. Of course Kara had no idea whether the hiking girl was nice or not- Lora hadn’t been a nice person at all and Kara had still cared for her. More than Lora seemed to ha- it didn’t matter.

She dug her hands into the pouch of her hoodie, feeling pretty out of her depth. She wasn’t generally good at talking to people- not in a real way anyway. Sure, she’d learned how to play along with conversations and lead people to think about her in a way that she preferred, but it felt different when she started talking about true things. Less like a fight and more like something that was actually scary.

“Sooo,” she drawled eventually, “You wanted to come here?” It felt strangely like losing to change the topic now, but she figured they would have plenty of time to talk as roommates.

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara shrugged at the question, looking around the gym to distract herself as she mulled over her answer. She'd only known Armis for a moment, but she still felt like they had more in common that... anyone else but perhaps the rest of the hybrids stuck here.

"I did a bit, yeah. I mean, I can't really remember much from before living on the streets, but there were people who knew what I looked like and that I wasn't exactly... human." She thought about the ragtag band of street kids she'd spent most of her time with, and then the gang members she occasionally worked with. Some of them had known about her, though Lora was the only one she'd ever told the full story to- or as much of it as she could remember anyway.

"There was- is someone, I guess," she hoped at least, "I could talk to her about stuff, and we... hung out. She was the one that heard people were looking for me, and it was her idea for me to try and go into hiding. That... didn't stick, obviously," she finished wryly. Someone must have found out, it was the only explanation she was willing to consider.

"What about you then? Didn't you get lonely in the desert, or did you go into the city more often?"

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara nodded thoughtfully as Armis spoke, easily catching the last few mumbled words as well. She hadn’t really thought of it like that, that their captors didn’t really seem to know what to do or expect either. She’d only heard someone had been looking for people like her, and then her attempts at trying to disappear hadn’t quite succeeded. She’d never really thought beyond ‘not getting caught’.

“People are scared of us wherever we are,” she said matter-of-factly. At least, that had always been her experience. Either people hadn’t seen what she was capable of, or they were afraid of her. Even those she would call her friends.

“Everyone is scared of things that can hurt them, it makes sense to be scared.” She’d never been embarrassed of fear, as it was a useful emotion. Didn’t mean you had to hide or run away, of course, but without fear how could you be careful?

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara glanced at the hallway that lead outside as Jerric stormed away after a guard spoke to him, but she didn't feel like getting involved in whatever mess had caught his attention. Exploring with Armis sounded like a lot more fun.

"Yeah, let's go," she said with a small smile, gesturing for the lizard-girls to lead the way.

"So, you reckon there are cameras watching us?" she peered up at the ceiling with a suspicious gaze, but she knew she was bad at picking up on detail like that.

"So far this seems awfully... chaotic for some kind of super soldier training centre, doesn't it?"

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara warily plucked at the strings of her hoodie at the remark about ‘fighting experience’. She’d been thinking about that since she came here, but she didn’t like what she’d come up with.

“I don’t know… I mean, I’m strong and all, but I’m not bulletproof and I’m not some kind of… comic book character or something,” she said, putting it the only way she really knew how. “I can’t jump onto a roof like the cat-lady did or dig into metals with my claws like the wolf-dude. And I don’t even have a tail that can double like a hand. I’m just… not really measuring up in this place I guess,” she said softly. If push came to shove, she was pretty sure she could hold out for a bit, especially with those fancy techniques of Lola’s that used an opponent’s strength against themselves. But in an all-out fight? From what she’d seen so far, she wasn’t looking to find out in a hurry.

Her expression cleared up at the second question.

“That sounds great!” she said enthusiastically. “I’ve never had a proper roommate before!” She hadn’t minded at the time, not really looking to spend time with people who thought of her as a ‘freak’, but it wasn’t like she stood out here.

“We can pick our own rooms right? Though I don’t really care which one we get.” She popped the last of her meat in her mouth, and stuck the bag of raspberries in her hoodie pocket for later. The novelty of the kitchen was fast wearing off, and she was itching to see a bit more of the place.

“You wanna go do some exploring? We didn’t get a chance to look at all those rooms yet, and it seems we’ll be staying here for now at least. Might as well know what we’re in for, right?”

Animal Instincts (recruiting!)

@Araby264
Kara felt a little more doubtful about his chances than Armis seemed to be, but she knew she didn’t have all the variables. In her experience she was hardier than most, but still vulnerable to knives and bullets. The thick bony plates that Armaldo had put her in mind of the heavier forms of body armour, though, so he was probably a tough nut to crack. Whatever it was, it wasn’t her business so she turned her attention back to the other girl.

“Yeah, I lived in the city,” she said, putting the meat down as she talked. “It was… Well, it was normal I guess. I don’t really remember anything else. I started out on the streets, but people throw enough food away to live from and after I beat a few people up word got around and I mostly got left alone. Eventually there were people who would pay me to do, er, guarding and stuff,” she hesitated a bit over this part, not sure if she wanted to tell Armis how much of her various jobs had involved actively going after people to beat up.

“Anyway, I could get enough money and I met some people who didn’t care that I was a weird little girl who could take on dudes trice her size and wore long sleeves in summer,” she shrugged, a little surprised by how wistful thinking about her past was making her.

“It was… nice I guess. I mean, I got into fights and ate garbage half of the time, but I figured out my own shit, you know?”